Brian and his fellow LAFD public information officers manage an unparalleled social media operation in the government emergency field, including a blog about to hit three million visits and a Flickr site with seven million views. The Department recently split its Twitter account in two: @LAFD, which is reserved for fire and accident reports, and @LAFDTalk, which people can use to ask questions about fire extinguishers or whatever else fire-related is on their minds. Brian gave a terrific presentation at the Red Cross event about his work that can be found on C-SPAN’s website.

In the two-and-a-half minute video below, I asked Humphrey what he would tell other emergency responder agencies, which have not yet embraced social media in their work, ”I encourage agencies and people to jump in the water. That doesn’t mean enter head first. But get in the pool.” He urges a patient approach in which officials listen, absorb information initially. But he points out social media is a “force multiplier” for emergency agencies in distributing and gathering information. And he notes: “If it works in Los Angeles, it can work in your town too.”

Humphrey cites an example of social media’s usefulness in the wake of the stampede at Germany’s Love Parade at which 18 people died. He says that in similar types of events, LAFD uses social media to monitor the situation before it gets out of hand. He also urges the public to sign up for their local government text/email alerts, which offer an opportunity to get emergency information even before its delivered by the traditional media.

LAFD Public Information Officer Brian Humphrey discusses the use of social media and personal technology in the emergency services.

Public preparedness is an atypical beauty pageant platform. But Shepherd does not have typical beauty pageant credentials. She had served as a combat medic for six years with the Utah National Guard (1st Battalion, 211th Aviation), including a year-long stint in Afghanistan at Bagram Airfield where she earned five medals for outstanding service.

Miss Utah & Army Combat Medic Sgt. Jill Shepherd

Shepherd entered her first pageant at Southern Utah University where she was studying for a degree in Nursing. But she was having a really difficult time coming up with a platform and did not want to do a traditional pageant “health and fitness” subject. Then, she drew a connection between her experience in Afghanistan where “you had to be ready for anything” with that  of natural disasters and smaller emergencies back in Utah that civilians also had to be ready for anything. So, she made citizen emergency preparedness, with a particular focus on schools and students, her pageant platform.

In fact, Shepherd says sees a connection between her military service abroad and citizen preparedness at home as both involve a commitment from citizens to contribute in times of crisis. It is a great point. Last week, I wrote a post about how Americans should view preparedness as personal responsibility and responsibility of citizenship. But I didn’t include the idea that preparing for disaster was a way that civilians could (and should) make a contribution to complement the work and sacrifice of their fellow citizens in the military. (I will be adding it to that previous post.) It would seem to be another good angle for preparedness messaging, adding to the “personal responsibility” approach.

Jill Shepherd being crowned Miss Utah.

Shepherd feels that preparedness twas a good fit with her background as a medic and what she wanted to talk about to audiences around the state (and believes it helped her win the Miss Utah pageant). She also reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Miss America pageant. Afterwards, Shepherd got involved with the TeenCERT program at Eastern Michigan University and did public speaking on behalf of disaster readiness for young people. She is now an emergency room nurse at a Salt Lake City children’s hospital.

After I posted this, I got a Facebook comment from Robert Buzzard suggesting that Craig Fugate at FEMA ask Shepherd to again become a spokesperson for public preparedness; I think it’s a terrific idea.

Shepherd doing a school preparedness event as part of her “Miss Utah” responsibilities.

So, it’s not surprising that the agencies are developing a special social media response team comprised of teenagers to assist the state’s efforts in dealing with disasters. Tentatively called the Colorado Social Media All-Hazards Response Team (COSmart), it will aim to create a cadre of high school and college age citizens to assist the state in better integrating social networking and other new personal technologies into disaster preparedness and response.

It is part of Colorado’s aggressive effort to involve youths in preparedness activities, including training programs and internships. The state sees the response team as a way to provide a platform for young people to offer their ideas on emergency readiness and tap their technological expertise, according to READYColorado’s Brandon Williams.

Williams told me that he hopes the team members will serve as “eyes and ears” in the community on disaster preparedness before and during emergency situations, helping to collect and disseminate information between citizens and the authorities and creating situational awareness with social media and other communications tools.

He says the program is still in the developmental phase. But what I like about this idea is that it addresses an aspect of the emergency management community’s challenge in figuring out how best to take advantage of the potential of new personal technology in disasters. A major question is how to institutionalize a relationship in advance with citizen users that can be tapped during emergency situations. One way to do so is to reach out to the civilians beforehand — similar to pre-positioning supplies before an emergency — and this Colorado initiative could be an important model of how do so.

Plus, it utilizes the unique knowledge of young people in social media and engages them in preparedness on their own terms. I look forward to following the initiative as it develops. Thanks to Eric Holdeman (via Garry Briese) where I first heard about this idea.

According to an article on the website Neighborhood Empowerment Network, the school’s involvement came after the San Francisco Disaster Feeding Task Force had developed a plan for the project but was having trouble funding it:

Just when the project was about to be shelved for lack of funds, the Lick Wilmerding High School junior class president, Jody Fu, contacted SF CARD (San Francisco Community Agencies Responding to Disaster) asking how the High School could help make San Francisco residents better prepared for an emergency, such as a natural disaster. The students had seen the devastation in Haiti and had contributed to the relief effort but wanted to make their own home in San Francisco a safer place as well. After just a few months of planning, fundraising, and coordination with the Task Force, the school volunteers made the program a reality.

On Saturday May 8th, class volunteers assembled food and water supplies donated by the San Francisco Food Bank into kits to be delivered to the homes of Meals On Wheels’s and Project Open Hand’s most vulnerable clients. Delivery drivers also briefed clients about disaster preparedness, gave them emergency information pamphlets and whistles from the SF Department of Emergency Management, and continue to inventory the supplies at designated intervals. The monies the students raised over many class fundraisers will go to the Food Bank to offset some of the costs of supplies and packaging.

For more information on the high school’s initiative, you can find it on the SF Emergency Department’s Facebook page here.

High school students packing emergency kits for vulnerable San Franciscans

Though the @GOHSEP feed has been up for only a month and a half, it has already become a useful model of Twitter’s use by government in emergency management crisis communications. Last month, I wrote about GOHSEP’s extra effort to thank users who were ‘retweeting’ the agency’s announcements on the oil spill — it’s the kind of small (and cost-free) reward/positive reinforcement for the public not normally done by government entities.

Since then, I’ve noticed another smart (and unusual) thing GOHSEP is doing: aggressively adding the Twitter feeds of citizens to its “following” list. It is something that a lot of government agencies in the emergency area (and actually government agencies in any field) have been hesitant to do. As of this writing, @GOHSEP has 2132 “followers” and is “following” 1892 feeds; by contrast, many governmental feeds have thousands of “followers” but only are “following” a small fraction of that number.

In an interview, GOHSEP press secretary Christina Stephens told me that the agency has found that “following” citizen feeds has become a useful information source on what is happening ‘on the ground’. She says that many of those who reach out to the agency through Twitter are involved (and informed) citizens, activists or bloggers. Not only are those people information resources for GOHSEP as it tries to deal with the quickly changing spill situation, but those same people are the ones likely to be contacting reporters with their concerns — and therefore are influencing mainstream media coverage. So, seeing what these citizens are saying on Twitter helps GOHSEP anticipate what topics reporters will be asking them about. To Stephens, not “following” individual feeds limits Twitter’s potential value to a government agency.

“Twitter is a snapshot of what people are thinking and talking about,” she explains. “People are either talking about you or talking with you. We’d prefer to talk with you.” Stephens says emergency agencies should embrace Twitter to its fullest extent as it offers government a new way of engaging the public. She says she has found that the public appreciates the responsiveness Twitter allows GOHSEP.

Yet, it has been my experience that a lot of government agencies in the emergency area are somewhat gun shy about using Twitter and other social media applications in the interactive way they are designed for and instead they use it as just another one-way, top-down method of distributing the same institutional information (ie. press releases). The hesitancy comes from a lack of expertise, commitment, manpower or confidence.

Stephens recommends that other agencies jump in and use Twitter more extensively. But she does say GOHSEP has had to develop some guidelines on the fly — for example, it will not ‘retweet’ unconfirmed information, and it avoids any kind of political content in its communications with followers.

Another government agency that has taken advantage of Twitter and has been aggressive in adding “followers” is the city of Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management (@PhilaOEM). An official told me that they view the public as a resource during an emergency and see Twitter as a way to begin setting up those two-way relationships with individuals in advance. GOHSEP also has a Facebook page. Stephens said in the event of a disaster evacuation GOHSEP would use Twitter but that  – with its greater penetration numbers — would probably be even more useful.

Disaster READY Training provides students with an opportunity to learn and practice emergency readiness skills. The program is being delivered in a format that teaches a broad-range of safety skills with time devoted to practicing the newly acquired training in hands-on exercises and activities. In addition, the program gives students a chance to explore careers in emergency management, response, and preparedness from professionals working in a variety of areas and disciplines.

The middle school program is being offered on June 29, 2010 at Quest K-8 in Aurora, CO and the four day high school program is July 20 – 23, at the Denver Police Academy. Application materials are available at www.readycolorado.com/disasterREADYtraining. Space is limited and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is free and open to all middle and high school students throughout Colorado.

Thanks to the Natural Hazards Center Twitter feed for bringing this to my attention.

In the end, Ida ended up weakening and did not have as serious impact on the U.S. as originally feared. Nonetheless, Jeannette’s post offers some nice insight on the increasingly central role that social media will play in disaster response:

The Hurricane Information Center was established during the heydays of the Democratic National Convention in August 2008. As the Convention was winding down, a Ning network was established to facilitate a distributed network of volunteers who could bring together disparate sources of information into a single online platform of technology mashups.

More than 500 people participated in this effort. They identified relevant Twitter feeds; annotated maps with evacuation routes, shelters, and available resources; linked to updated news stories; and edited a hurricane Wiki in real time. In true crowdsourced fashion, this network organized itself, invited newcomers with various levels of expertise to participate, and requested assistance with identified tasks.

The value of the information available through the Hurricane Information Center existed in its resources available to those looking for real-time information. The wisdom of the crowd, its collective intelligence, and self-monitoring behavior led to an example of a real-time, online, collective action taking that rivals examples of on the ground convergence routinely seen in disasters and crisis events.

Now, as Ida ramps up, the Hurricane Information Center has re-activated itself. Today, network founder Andy Carvin of NPR, sent out a call for help through an email blast which was repeated across various network participants’ personal blogs and through Twitter networks. It’s as if the horn has been sounded for the cavalry to assemble and they are preparing to mount their horses for the long ride into a potential disaster.

The second group to sound the alarm is Emicus.com. This website, launched by a Seattle start-up company, brings together newsfeeds from government, news, and the public and adds a number of sign-on features such as the “I’m OK” notification system. Here users can use the Emicus website to send text messages to their predetermined network, relaying the message that they are OK.

This hurricane season may be the first proving ground for Emicus, which was developed in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma (2005), and Gustav and Ike (2008). The Emicus professional staff, which works out of offices in Florida, Seattle, and San Francisco, will serve as the dedicated team to monitor and relay information posted on the website.

Two dedicated groups – one comprised of volunteers across the country in a crowdsourced effort, the other developed on an enterprise model – are both preparing to deliver safety-critical information in this impending hurricane. Observations of the efforts and output should not go un-noticed by those who are interested in learning more about the wisdom of the crowd and the uses of social media to prepare, respond, and manage disasters and crisis events.

As Jeannette points out, the Hurricane Information Center and Emicus are innovators in the use of social media in disasters. One challenge going forward is to spread awareness among the public of social media’s capabilities during disasters in advance so when the bugle is blown next time more citizens know how and where to assemble.

Organized by the Ojai Valley CERT, the “OK Drill” aims to improve the community’s emergency readiness. Beginning at 7pm on October 14th, residents will be asked to: review their disaster plan and check their emergency supplies; tune into their local AM Emergency Radio stations for instructions; ‘check’ on their neighbors; and post a yellow and black “OK” sign in a window facing a street or mailbox.

In an interview on Radio Ojai last month, an “OK Drill” organizer Paul Garth provides more information about the exercise. He also makes the good point that despite the big drill “preparedness is not a single event but an ongoing conversation”. In the interview, Garth discusses the impact of his CERT training — noting the level of empowerment that can come from just pulling a fire extinguisher for the first time during training and explaining his involvement in ‘Ham Radio’.

The OK Drill is a terrific example of individual citizens working with officials to create a significant preparedness event involving all stakeholders. If you would like more information, go to okdrill.blogspot.com.

OJAI VALLEY CERT MEMBERS DURING FIRE SAFETY TRAINING (ABOVE)

I think that one way officials at local, state and federal levels can be helpful is by highlighting businesses of all sizes who are already making plans for their workforce. This attention would provide guidance, encouragement (and, in some cases, pressure) for other organizations. Using the bully pulpit in that way would underscore how seriously the government takes this and make special planning/policies for H1N1 seem like the norm not the exception. The media can also play a constructive role here by examining what is and is not being planned by organizations in their areas. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Star-Tribune recently had a couple of helpful articles along those lines which I wanted to post. According to “Next Test: Flu 101″:

…With the number of flu cases expected to peak within the next five to seven weeks and send absenteeism rates soaring, experts at a national conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday recommended that companies do what they can to make sure sick workers stay home. Suggestions include loosening sick-leave policies or allowing workers to use time off that they haven’t yet accrued.

Some companies already have taken that a step further. Medtronic Inc. is giving all its U.S. employees, including hourly workers, three extra paid sick days because of H1N1. The Fridley-based medical-device manufacturer said its decision was based on concern that workers would still come in despite being sick. “We were getting concerns from particularly the hourly side that if they’d already used up their sick time, well then what?” said Tanya Raso, Medtronic’s director of corporate risk and business continuity. “And managers were feeling some of the pressure of: ‘I’m going to send this person home and potentially they’re going to miss their car payment as a result.’ This will help alleviate concerns on both ends.” Raso said she realizes that some abuse might take place but that the company is relying on the honor code.

Best Buy is telling its managers to make sure employees know it’s OK to take sick time. It’s also telling managers to tell workers to go home if they appear to be sick. If a worker who doesn’t have sick time is sent home during a shift, managers are encouraged to pay the remainder of that day’s shift.

Target and other businesses are waiting to see just how serious the pandemic is before they solidify personnel plans. ”We’re prepared to react and be compassionate depending on the extent of the epidemic,” said Darrell Amberson, president and part-owner of Lehman’s Garage Inc., which employs just under 100 people in Minneapolis and area suburbs.

For now, he plans to shift people among Lehman’s six locations as needed if the flu hits. If it gets worse, he’s considering changing the company’s sick-leave policy. Technicians and other hourly workers earn vacation time but not sick time, but Amberson said it’s unlikely a sick employee would drag himself in if he had the flu just to save a vacation day. “I’d like to think that most of our people are pretty conscientious, and we’re small enough that we have a relatively close-knit group,” he said. “Someone would say, ‘Stay home, take it easy and we’ll cover for you. It will be OK. It’s not worth making other people sick or yourself worse to tough it out.’”

New Horizon Academy, which has 7,000 kids and 1,400 workers in 60 child-care centers in Minnesota, is taking precautions in all of its centers, even telling parents to wash their hands before they go into a classroom. Most of the workers in the centers are paid hourly and accrue paid time off (PTO) but not sick time. The Plymouth-based company is considering allowing workers to use PTO hours they haven’t yet accrued if they need to stay home because of H1N1, said Chad Dunkley, chief operating officer. It also has beefed up its list of substitutes by about two dozen in case the flu takes a toll on workers, he said.

At the conference, called “Keeping the World Working During the H1N1 Pandemic,” experts advised businesses to come up with a plan now, if they haven’t already. And the first priority should be keeping people home without fear of losing their jobs.

Another Star-Tribune article, “What employers are doing”, offers this list of corporate plans:

MEDTRONIC

•Providing three extra paid sick days for all U.S. employees, including hourly.

TARGET

•Evaluating more flexible sick-time policies if H1N1 escalates.

•Might reduce staff needed at stores if necessary to remain open.

•Offering seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccinations, as available, to employees and customers at some pharmacies.

•Securing hand sanitizers and masks for employees, as well as customers.

BEST BUY

•Managers encouraged to pay the remainder of a shift if employee goes home sick.

NEW HORIZON CHILD CARE

•Considering allowing employees to use more personal paid time off than they have accrued.

•Bulking up its list of substitute workers.

DELTA AIR LINES

•Following CDC recommendations; has not made operational changes related to H1N1.

The scope of the challenge for the nation when it comes to businesses and employees during a serious H1N1 pandemic was underscored this week at the conference: fewer than half of the organizations in attendance said they plan to pay employees for time off when they need to stay home to care for their children while schools are closed or to care for sick family members.

To Dudgeon and Hogan, the public preparedness challenge calls for new content and distribution approaches. That means less top down instructing of citizens and more sharing knowledge among members of the community using social media. An underpinning of the new initiative is that existing official or “branded” citizen preparedness efforts have hit a ceiling. ”We got who we’re going to get,” says Dudgeon.

“Prep SF Because It Rocks!” is being rolled out in stages beginning with an “unbranded” Facebook page which is not web linked with the SFDEM official sites including www.72 hours.org. This is not viewed by organizers as a one-time “campaign” but instead as an effort to create a “preparedness movement” which will become part of San Franciscans’ everyday lives.

I was particularly impressed with their strategic approach to the issue laid out in the presentation, which began with a thoughtful analysis of other preparedness efforts and academic social science. Though the initiative is very localized to reflect the City of San Francisco, there are many elements in “Prep SF” that are transferable (and localizable) to any area in the U.S. I recommend becoming a Facebook “Fan” of “Prep SF” not only if you are in Bay Area but also if you are interested in creative preparedness/public education efforts.

INTERVIEW WITH ROB DUDGEON AND KRISTIN HOGAN ON “PREP SF BECAUSE IT ROCKS!” (ABOVE)

“I have been a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member in Cobb County, Georgia since 2004. It all started with my desire to help my family and neighbors to survive a disaster. I started searching on the internet to find out if any volunteer opportunities were being offered in my community, and that’s how I found CERT through Citizen Corps and ultimately Cobb County.

I participated in exercises, drills, training and recruitment opportunities. I took numerous FEMA independent courses in emergency management until I decided to enroll in a formal study program in emergency management. That is when I started the graduate certificate program in emergency management at Georgia State University.

Today that knowledge has allowed me to create a ministry in my church focusing on awareness of emergency management including conducting drills, exercises and training. Through that ministry, I have created vital documents such as emergency operations procedures for church and faith-based schools, continuity of operations plans, and evacuation plans–documents that I am happy to share with my neighbors.

In addition to the purpose of sharing those documents, and in the spirit of cooperation, I have established communication between the church and the Public Safety authorities including, the sheriff, police, fire and emergency management departments in the county. After all how good is a plan if it not shared with those who are there to help you?”

To read more stories of volunteers like Lisbeth R. or add your own, go to http://serve.gov/stories_safety.asp.